Boost for ‘gun’-man slay cops
Nabe: Theyy had to
Neighbors of thee Brooklyn man fatally shot by cops as he rann amok with a gun-like object in Crown Heights Saturday said the NYPD had little choice but to react the way they did.
After watching a two-minute compilation of surveillance footage showing Saheed Vassell pointing the head of a soldering torch at passers-by, neighbor “Sharon C.” said officers were not “100 percent wrong” to open fire.
“I was very upset, but when I saw the video, I have to give it to cops. The thing in his hand looks like a gun,” according to the woman, who attends the same church that 34-yearold Vassell did.
“The object looked like a gun. There were pedestrians and children out there. As officers, they have to follow protocol.”
Police rushed to the scene Wednesday after three 911 callers reported a man pointing a silver firearm at people.
When cops arrived, they saw Vassell, who local City Council member Alicka Ampry-Samuel said had been depressed since his best friend was killed by a cop 10 years ago.
Vassell “took a twohanded shooting stance and pointed an object at the approaching officers,” NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.
Police shouted, “Drop it!” several times before opening fire, authorities said.
Lavern Chatergon, 37, said the footage offers compelling evidence in favor of the four officers who fired a combined 10 rounds.
“From what I saw in the video, he was threatening people, pointing something at them . . . the cops were defending themselves, I don’t give them wrong here” he said.
Margaret Muhleder said: “It takes two to tango. If you don’t put yourself in that predicament, you will not be a victim,” she said.
Others said that though Vassell was terrifying people, he didn’t deserve to be killed.
“I understand why people were concerned. Everyone was scared. They didn’t know what he was pointing at them,” said Cecily Chandler, 31. “It looked like a gun but it’s not an excuse to kill a man. They should have shot him in the leg or the arm. They didn’t have to kill him.”
Vassell was struck by at least seven rounds.
Medics rushed Vassell — a Jamaica native and father of a 16-year-old boy — to Kings County Hospital, where he died.
His pal, Ortanzso Bovell, 25, was fatally shot by cops on Aug. 7, 2008, while trying to flee officers who had stopped him for driving a stolen car, Gothamist reported at the time. No charges were filed against the officer involved but a jury awarded the family $2.5 million in a wrongful-death civil suit last year.